The Race for Timbuktu: In Search of Africa's City of Gold – The True Story of Laing and Clapperton's Legendary 2,000-Mile Saharan Rivalry

by Frank T. Kryza

In the first decades of the nineteenth century, no place burned more brightly in the imagination of European geographers—and fortune hunters—than the lost city of Timbuktu. Africa's legendary City of Gold, not visited by Europeans since the Middle Ages, held the promise of wealth and fame for the first explorer to make it there. In 1824, the French Geographical Society offered a cash prize to the first expedition from any nation to visit Timbuktu and return to tell the tale.

One of the contenders was Major Alexander Gordon Laing, a thirty-year-old army officer. Handsome and confident, Laing was convinced that Timbuktu was his destiny, and his ticket to glory. In July 1825, after a whirlwind romance with Emma Warrington, daughter of the British consul at Tripoli, Laing left the Mediterranean coast to cross the Sahara. His 2,000-mile journey took on an added urgency when Hugh Clapperton, a more experienced explorer, set out to beat him. Apprised of each other's mission by overseers in London who hoped the two would cooperate, Clapperton instead became Laing's rival, spurring him on across a hostile wilderness.

An emotionally charged, action-packed, utterly gripping read, The Race for Timbuktu offers a close, personal look at the extraordinary people and pivotal events of nineteenth-century African exploration that changed the course of history and the shape of the modern world.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Africa, Adventure, Travel, Biography, Western Africa

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 24, 2006

Reviews

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beginning and end of this book are difficult to get through. It's the juicy middle that's entertaining. The first third of the book works its way through a long line of unfortunate explorers. After a while, I found it tough to get invested in any character because I figured he wouldn't live more than a few pages. These stories demonstrated just how daunting it was to get to Timbuktu. It was satisfying when the author finally focused on a team that made some headway into the interior of the continent. I enjoyed hearing about their interactions with one another and with their African hosts. It was especially interesting to learn about African leaders' initial reactions upon meeting them. The Europeans were part extra-terrestrial and part ominous prelude to Africa's foreign relations. The anxiety was especially on the minds of those Africans who had heard about Great Britain's work in India. All this goes to show that there was a lot more to this book than a simple race to find an exotic city. It was a pivotal moment in history for two continents. The end of the book lost me though. It got really overbearing with the many details of the Timbuktu quest's post mortem. It was an unsatisfying conclusion in light of all the general themes that the author could have reinforced, touching on colonialism and European urges to gather Africa's resources. This was a good book, but you have to be willing to skim when the details get overwhelming.

[Lisa (Harmonybites) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story of European, specifically British, exploration of the African interior in the late 18th and early 19th century. At one point the book shows a 1829 map of Africa, and it was striking how much white space was on it. The Moon was better mapped--because you could study the Moon with a telescope--trying to get to the interior of Africa if you were a European was a different story. (The slave trade wasn’t conducted by Europeans in the African interior but by Africans themselves. Europeans primarily only hugged the coasts of Sub-Saharan Africa until late in the 19th century.) The Race for Timbuktu is a story of exploration and cultures colliding worthy of Star Trek--only without the Prime Directive and not just the Red Shirts drop like flies.

I thought the book did well on several levels. The explorers themselves come across as distinct personalities. Kryza quotes one historian of African exploration in the 1960s as saying that: “It remains difficult, in the checkered history of geographical discovery, to find a more odious man than Dixon Denham.” Having read Hochschild’s King Leopold’s Ghost, I would have thought it was hard to beat Henry Morton Stanley on that score, but I think Denham as portrayed by Kryza at least comes close. Other explorers such as Mongo Park, Lyons, Clapperton and Laing were more sympathetic, but just as interesting. I was also fascinated by the delineation of the connections between the loss of the American colonies, the push to end the slave trade, and how it drove British expeditions to find the lost city of Timbuktu and trace the course of the Niger River. The author does a great job in conveying what a barrier the Sahara Desert on one side and the tropical diseases of the Congo River basin on the other side presented and how they isolated Timbuktu.

Timbuktu, in what is today Mali is on the banks of the Niger and the southern border of the Sahara was a legendary city where “camel met canoe.” It was “likely founded around 1100” and at one point had a population reaching 100,000, was in its heyday fabulously wealthy, and had boasted an important center of Islamic scholarship in Medieval times. If I had one disappointment, it is we actually don’t spend much time or space on Timbuktu itself--this is a book about the journey, not the destination. Kryza claims he is “no scholar, and this is not a scholarly book” but he does include a bibliography and extensive notes on each chapter pointing to his sources. The book was entertaining, but felt solid in its facts.

[Vikas Datta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exciting account of the first recorded European experience with a fable city, the reality and the tragic aftermath...

[Kenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this. Back in the 18th and 19th century, more was known about the face of the moon than the interior of Africa. Good fact that. So Victorians, with their sense of order and derring do - combined of course with superiority and racism set out to discover the lost city of Timbuktu (which may have been a surprise to its residents, who must have felt they always knew where they were). Anyway, well know fact in those days that you weren't anywhere until a white bloke wandered in and said you were now an official somewhere.

Those guys were hardy, resourceful, plucky, greedy, evil, good or some combination, but they were all a bit mental. And this is their story, concentrating on Alexander Gordon Laing, the first man to reach Timbuktu, as well as previous expeditions - (Mungo Park and the Denham, Clapperton and Oudney expedtiions- with Denham winning the dubious award of most odious malevolent person to step out of Britain in that (possibly most) era. And frankly I'd include fiction as well as non-fiction there.

Anyway, the events this chronicals are hard edged explorations, dangers and dealings with the locals, and with the UK Consul in Tripoli, Warrington, a major (in every sense) character throughout the whole period, it would actually be difficult to make these larger than life characters dull. Which thankfully the book doesn't do. Quite the opposite, it picks up pace through to Timbuktu, and I found really keeps the interest for a lengthy debate started by Warrington accusing the foul French had absconded with some priceless papers that clouded relations, and made things...rather interesting.

Clips along nicely, with good use of the original surviving letters, but with an accessible, not overly academic style (but copious notes if you like that sort of thing). Recommended.

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let's see. We need someone to explore a new region with zero possibility of returning. You will die through contraction of awful tropical disease, starvation in a vast desert or murder at the hands of xenophobic desert nomads. Volunteers?
Well, yes, there are, if you want to count 18th century Brits. I don't know what compelled them to go, but I do not think you would get any moderns to do so unless they had been told they only had six months to live. However, for the pre-Victorian Brits, the desire to explore new regions and the attendant fame compelled them to try to be the first to visit the fabled city of Timbuktu in what is now Mali.
Timbuktu was believed to be filled with treasures and no white man had seen it since the Roman era. That an American had actually been there and reported what he'd found in the 1790s did not count-He was a freedman and not white. Also, he said there was nothing much there-and that couldn't right.
The "Race" mentioned in the title was the competition to reach Timbuktu to win a prize offered by the French Geograhical Society in 1824. Earlier than that, however, two members of the Royal Society in London formed "The African Association," and that is what started the attempts to find Timbuktu.
An explorer, Mungo Park, beginning from the West coast of Africa and attempting to find the origin of the Niger River (The other goal besides that of reaching Timbuktu) was the most successful of the early explorers. He seems to have been killed in an ambush, which he seems to have brought on himself by fighting with natives along the route.
The two who were featured in the race presented here were Clapperton and Laing. Clapperton was favored as he had already been part of an expedition which had penetrated pretty far into the continent. Laing had the support of the British ambassador to Tripoli, Warrington. Laing married Warrington's daughter the night before he left and

never saw her again. They did write to each other and although no European had made the journey between Timbuktu and Tripoli there were plenty of Arabs who had done so routinely. They delivered communications between the explorers and their benefactors. Laing made it to Tripoli, wrote all about it and then was murdered when he left for home. There was some fear of the explorers since the leaders of the various cities, tribes and nations had heard what had happened in India and considered the Europeans point men for future expansion. They were prescient on that of course.

Besides exploration, the British had one more reason to penetrate the heart of Africa. It was their desire to stop the slave trade pursued by most of the tribes of the reason. Of course, the Brits had been all for the trade a few decades before, but had banned it and like an ex-smoker trying to get his friends to give up, must have seemed insufferable and hypocritical to the slavers.

Did I like the book? I thoroughly enjoyed it. Kryza switched back and forth between other explorers and Laing to give the race drama. This was a little difficult at first because the figures mentioned here are not remembered, so it was a little hard to keep straight who was who. But, once you got that out of the way it was a smooth and enjoyable read.

I don't know if Frank Kryza made much money from this. I suspect a lot of the historical writers I have been reading have not made a ton off of their books, but I certainly respect and enjoy their efforts even if they are not making the bucks of a John Grissom. It is this kind of effort that now and then brings fascinating people like Laing, Clapperton and Warrington to us 21st century readers and keep their names from being forgotten.
Herodotus said history is written so great men and their deeds are not forgotten-or something like that.
Thanks Frank, I appreciated the book and the effort.

[Joy D · Rating 4 out of 5]

History is brought to life in this little gem of non-fiction about British and Scottish explorers of the early 19th century. It follows the history of attempts to locate Timbuktu and efforts to map the route of the Niger river. Goals included putting an end to slave trading and establishing new commerce. The book could also have been entitled “1001 Ways to Die a Painful Death.” Turns out, the “best” routes to get to Timbuktu were traveling through the up-to-150-degree heat and vast rocky expanse of the Sahara Desert or crossing swamps and dense forests with hordes of disease-carrying mosquitos from the coast. Death could (and did) come from numerous foul means: dysentery, malaria, dehydration, marauding bandits, territorial tribes, fanatic Islamists, and a variety of potentially lethal fevers.

The first several chapters describe previous journeys into the African interior, setting the stage for the rivalry to come, including a couple in which:

“England’s best and brightest had been wiped out in both of the expeditions (65 percent of the British contingent of 117 men died in Africa, while many of the rest were terminally ill when they landed in England).”

The middle chapters arrive at the focus of the book, primarily about two men striving to become the first to reach Timbuktu, and claim not only the prize of 10,000 francs offered by the French Geographical Society, but the accolades and prestige which would inevitably follow such an achievement:

“Until that August day in 1826 when the first white man in three centuries is known to have walked through the gates of Timbuktu, some dozen European explorers tried to find the city. For two of these, Captain Hugh Clapperton and Major Alexander Gordon Laing, winning this prize became an intensely personal competition, crossing that thin line that separates a passionate but realizable dream from an irrational and dangerous obsession.”

These chapters are filled with striking descriptions and colorful, larger-than-life people. Not simply conveying a historical record, the author inserts vivid narrative that conjures an image of place:

“Night fell quickly in the Tripolitanian desert. The sky overhead became rusty; the setting sun dimmed. As the light failed, the sky passed from copper to bronze but remained metallic as the sun’s embers were overtaken by the moon’s milky shimmer.”

This book is filled with adventure, courage, intrigue, politics, betrayal, and memorable people. The author is adept at conveying the personal characteristics of the individuals, both the admirable and the unpleasant. There’s even a love story embedded in the pages, which adds poignancy and human impact to those left behind.

The final few chapters recount the aftermath. These chapters, while necessary, were not quite as riveting as those in the heart of the book. Recommended to readers interested in exploration, African/British history, or true-life adventures of a bygone era.

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been fascinated by African exploration for many years probably dating back to when I first read about Sir Richard Burton and his explorations when I was in the military back in the 1970s. More recently, I have read a couple of books about Stanley & Livingstone that I found quite compelling: Into Africa: The Epic Adventures of Stanley & Livingstone and Dark Safari: The Life Behind the Legend of Henry Morton Stanley .

I have had The Race for Timbuktu on my TBR shelves for a few years and finally got around to reading it. It tells of the early 19th Century search for the legendary city that was thought to be a lost city of gold comparable to the legends of El Dorado in the Americas. The city had not been visited by Europeans since the Middle Ages. In 1824, the French Geographical Society offered a cash prize to the first expedition to visit Timbuktu and return to tell the tale. The main focus of the book is on the rivalry between British explorers Alexander Laing and Hugh Clapperton who competed to find the city and claim the prize. The two explorers were also tasked with trying to complete the charting of the Niger River and its outlet that was unknown at the time. The book also provides some history of the earlier discovery of the river by Mungo Park and his explorations. This intrigued me mainly because several years ago I had read and enjoyed T.C. Boyle's novel Water Music which told of Park's exploits in Africa from a somewhat humorous point of view. The book also details the political context of African exploration which led to the colonization of the continent by European powers.

For the most part, I enjoyed this rather informative history of the explorers that risked and gave their lives to provide knowledge of the unknown. As stated in the book, the surface of the moon at the time was better charted than the interior of Africa given that the moon could be seen by telescope. The book really provided some terse descriptions of the horrors and hazards that the explorers faced including being attacked by marauders, contracting diseases such as malaria and dysentery, and running out of food and water. I have always been amazed at how these men could go into the unknown and risk their lives in doing so. Although I thought the end of the book got bogged down a little, the meat of the story was quite compelling and I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in African exploration and history.

[Joel · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the year 1324 Malian Emperor Mansa Musa made his legendary hajj to Mecca. This event, famous for its extravagance, was the introduction of Mali into the popular imagination – and economies – of the Islamic caliphates of old. Following the gilded trail back with Musa to Timbuktu were the emissaries, ambassadors and traders; the artisans and scholars and scam artists of powers great and small scrambling to find a place in Africa’s “El Dorado”. There, where the dry ocean of the Sahara meets the extensive expanse of black Africa, on a bend in the Niger River, sat the small trading post of Timbuktu – newly acquired by Musa’s expanding empire. A perfect jumping off point – and an ideal meeting place of cultures – Timbuktu rapidly became an epicenter of trade and Islamic learning, with a university founded by Musa reaching 25,000 students and boasting libraries with almost half a million books (during a time when Oxford had only hundreds, maybe a thousand). A place where, it is fabled, the currency was not in gold or silver but in books. For a while Timbuktu flourished, but time and changing trading patters – and a Moroccan invasion – put an end to Timbuktu’s preferential status as a city richer than London, Paris or Vienna.

But the legend continued. Timbuktu, Africa’s El Dorado, remained in the popular imagination of the Europeans as the elusive prize – if only they could find it.

“The Race for Timbuktu” by Frank Kryza is the story of one chapter of this search. Specifically, it is the story of how a group of British explorers tried to penetrate the dark heart of Africa. Braving Tuareg raids, desperate Saharan expanses devoid of water, disease, betrayal, tribal wars and Muslim Jihads a group of intrepid explorers sought to penetrate the unknown to arrive at last to Timbuktu.

I like this story because, above all, it is a human story. Kryza delves into the personal travails of the travelers on their journey, never whitewashing their not insignificant interpersonal weaknesses, while nevertheless also highlighting the tremendous bravery and courage of conviction of these singular men as they competed for the great prize – to be the first white man to visit Timbuktu, and return. It is a hard story, because it is one of suffering and pain and betrayal. It is a disappointing story, because the characters themselves often leave so much to be desired. And it is a sad story because so many died on the journey; while for those who made it, their frustration as they enter Timbuktu to find that the glory days of that fabled city were centuries in the past is almost tangible.

It is a story worth the read, because it marks the last chapter of Africa’s isolation and the first chapter of Africa’s place in the modern world – for good and for bad.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was a lot about this book that I found really interesting, but there were also things that I didn't think needed to be included and that really slowed down the narrative. There was so much detail about the lives of some of the explorers (and other random characters) that it really detracted from the story of Timbuktu. I don't care at all who these guys married or what was in the letters between them and their wives, I just want to know about their exploring. And I found it very odd how much was described about Laing and Clapperton yet how little there was about Caillie. I personally would have enjoyed the book more if things were a bit more balanced since I find the actual exploration much more interesting than the personal and romantic lives of explorers. How Caillie can be all but excluded from the story of "the race for Timbuktu" when he literally is the first European to reach the city and return alive to Europe since the middle ages is beyond me. But there were definitely some insanely cool tidbits about Timbuktu and Africa in general at this time. If more had been about this and less about civilians living in Tripoli, I would have given it four stars. My favorite quotes:

"Remarkably, at the time of the first British undertaking to explore the southern fringe of the Sahara (early 1800s), planners in London knew more about the geography of the moon than they did of North and Central Africa."

"It was easier to map the surface of the moon with a telescope in 1829 than to produce a detailed map of Africa."

[Jason Herrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m really intrigued by North Africa, so this book was enjoyable for me as Kryza chronicled the early European attempts to rediscover Timbuktu & to map out the Niger River. The bulk of the story centered around Laing who was the first European to enter Timbuktu in centuries. Traversing the desert was an incredible undertaking & it’s fascinating to read of those who lived there or at least regularly travelled via caravan through the enormous Sahara desert.

[Robert]

Well-researched, and with surprisingly cohesive and descriptive prose for a non-professional author. Mr Kryza brings a wealth of first hand experience and empathy to his task and does an admirable job presenting the facts, such as are known or knowable, within the context of the often overlooked early period of British African exploration, both foreshadowing and informing the imperial age to follow generations later. Definitely worthwhile.

[Marty Reeder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having been piqued with a recent fetish for African exploration and discovery by Europeans as well as the pre-existing cultures, kingdoms and peoples, I grabbed for The Race for Timbuktu, a book I acquired long ago just as a similar desire flamed out and left it gathering dust on my to-read shelf.

So, when my yearning was rekindled this past year, I eagerly snatch up The Race for Timbuktu, ready to dive in. (You see, wife, this is why I get so many more books when I still haven’t started the other ones I got the last time … reading the right book is about opportunity, mood, and availability of text--I can’t always predict the first two, but I can facilitate the latter. This is a conversation we’ve had before that I’ve failed to adequately explain, so this book is kind of my star witness. No further questions … and no cross examination!)

For me, however, I more felt that this would be a dutiful, fact-finding read. No one had recommended it. I didn’t really research it at all besides doing a general search on the Internet and figuring, through the description, that this ought to cover things pretty well. Basically, I felt that I would enjoy the information I gathered from it, but it would not be the kind of book I’d try to foist upon others.

Boy was I surprised when I actually found the background info on African exploration being fascinating, if not exciting. It’s tragic and harrowing how many waves of explorers got swallowed up by the interior of Africa … and how relentless the British/Europeans were in rounding up and sending more into the front lines of battle, even without waiting for the success or failure of the previous.

Then Kyrza gets to the meat of the tale: the breakdown of Clapperton and Laing’s individual quests to find the mouth of the Niger and to locate the legendary African city, Timbuktu. I was in awe. Both of them faced daunting, though highly different, tasks (jungle survival versus desert survival). Both of them succeeded in some measure thanks to their passionate determination. Most of all, Kyrza allows the most distinct character of these stories to take precedence--the setting. Whether in the disease-ridden, jungle-mobbed West African coast or in the heat-seared sprawling expanse-of-nothing Saharan desert, Kyrza makes you feel the harsh reality of these fringe areas of Mother Nature’s most uncultured side.

So amazing was his storytelling, that at one point I thought I had to be in fiction story territory. One of the characters being left for dead, yet not only surviving but pushing on. Later, I would question the true ending of the story for a couple of chapters, fully expecting a twist ending in the vein of a mystery novel. So devastating were some events, one in particular, that after reading, it threw me off for half the day as I mourned for a tragic turn of events that seemed unfair to me. What a wonderful mixture of researching a story worth telling, and then finding a way to tell it right.

Having said that, Kyrza is not perfect. In fact, in some ways, he feels quite amateur. Some of the cobbling together of tales are sloppy enough that they needlessly repeat details, chapters apart from each other. The focus of some chapters seem to be built into a bigger whole, while others are strangely isolated or thematically irrelevant. When I read his afterword and saw how many hands touched the manuscript, how many people helped to decide the direction of the research and narrative, and his own journey and motivation in writing it, that made the discombobulated feel of the book make more sense, even if it did not fix some of the overarching problems.

While that does affect the reading experience, however, Kyrza succeeds even where he may not intend to. The strength of the stories he innately sensed as being powerful, his own contribution to the inhospitable setting that is West Africa’s interior, and the characters that he wisely allowed to tell the tale--all these make for an exciting, daredevil ride. In fact, it’s so thrilling that you’d read it for fiction enjoyment alone. But don’t. Read it for enjoyment, and then be amazed that it’s really non-fiction after all!

[Ronald Lett · Rating 3 out of 5]

The search for Timbuktu from the formation of the African Association in 1788 until 1830 when Rene Caille the anticlimactic winner of the “race” published his ‘Travels through Central Africa to Timbuktu is the subject of Kryza’s book. The Race for Timbuktu includes details of the ordeals of the African travelers sent out by the African Association to solve both the mysteries of the famed city of gold, Timbuktu and the location of the termination of the Niger River. Speculation on the Niger issue included the idea that emptied into one of the two other great African rivers, the Nile, of Congo, an inland lake and least likely directly into the Atlantic (the latter being the correct answer). The African Association made up of rich and powerful British Aristocrats sent many underprivileged and ambitious young British doctors and military officers to their deaths. The African Association underpaid the adventurers and rarely provided their families or dependents death benefits.

Chapter 10 is entitled the race begins. Kryza takes nine chapters to get around to the book’s objective. These first nine chapters would have benefited with editing. The callousness of the African association deserved documentation but a summary of the deaths of the numerous travellers many of whom did not make it far the West African Atlantic Coast or the North African Mediterranean coast would have been enough. Three of the British Travellers did make contribution worthy of detailed discussion. They were Dr Mungo Park, Lieutenant Hugh Clapperton and Major Alexander Gordon Lang.

In 1795 Dr. Mungo Park entered Africa via the Atlantic route. He went up the Gambia River and then continued overland through hostile Muslim territory. He was captured and sentenced to death but fortunately due to an attack on his captors by their enemies he managed to escape to the land of the Bambara and arrived at Segou which is located on the Niger River. Segou exists to this day as a major city in Mali. Although he had not reached Timbuktu nor found the exit for the Niger, Park became the first recorded European to see the Niger River Upon his return to Britain 2 ½ years after his departure he was hailed a hero.

By 1805 Park who found the life of a Scottish general practitioner boring, returned to Africa in an attempt to complete the original objectives. He again managed to get to Segou and tried to navigate down the Niger through hostile territory with the aid of firearms. He progressed 2000 miles downriver but 500 miles from the end of the Niger his boats were caught in stones in the rapids, and he was either killed by arrows or drowned. His journals were never recovered.

In 1821 Hugh Clapperton a naval lieutenant went with his friend Dr. Oudney a surgeon and an interloper foisted on the expedition a gentlemen army officer Major Dixon, they travelled south form Tripoli, on the Mediterranean across the Sahara and came to Bornu the most powerful kingdom between the Niger and the Nile. They explored Lake Chad and described the Kingdom of the Bornu and the Caliphate of Sokoto. These were substantive contributions, but Clapperton did not find the Niger or Timbuktu. Dr. Oudney did not survive this journey and Major Dixon died of malaria within the year of being appointed governor of Sierra Leone.

After almost 4 years in Africa, Clapperton returned to Britain. He considered himself the successor of Mungo Park and was offended to hear that the African Association had engaged A. Gordon Laing to reach the goals which had eluded him. Therefore, Clapperton returned to Africa within 3 months of his arrival in Britain. On this occasion he chose the shorter Atlantic route which he thought would help him reach Timbuktu before Laing. But Clapperton did not make any more progress on his second journey than his first. He failed to reach the Niger and died of infectious diseases and malnutrition in Sokoto.

Alexander Gordon Laing set out for Timbuktu using the Mediterranean route. He left for Tripoli for Timbuktu in 1825 just a few months prior to Clapperton’s return to Africa. The numerous delays of his departure from Tripoli gave him time to fall in love and marry the British consul's daughter. From Tripoli with his own caravan, he struggled from oasis to oasis with frequent stops which were many months at a time. His companions and employees organized an attempt on his life in which he suffered 18 disabling and disfiguring injuries. The ordeals of the journeys, the waits in the oasis and the fact that he continued to Timbuktu after the attempted murder demonstrated his bravery and tenacity. He reached Timbuktu, stayed there one month studying in the libraries. He did not find a city of gold a town well past its prime with little evidence of its previous glory. Laing had to flee Timbuktu due to tribal warfare and personal danger and threats. Days after his flight he was successfully murdered. His notes disappeared likely being destroyed by his murderers but possibly purchased by the French Consul in Tripoli.

A few of the other characters presented in the book were of interest. The British Consul in Tripoli Warrington and Caliph Bello of Sokoto in particular. Warrington’s search for Laing’s notes is drawn out and unsuccessful. Bello thwarted Clapperton’s exploration because he rightly thought that the British would undermine the slave trade and his trade routes if they had access to the African interior from the Atlantic Ocean through the Niger. The author of this book seemed to want to spice up his book with gossip. The question of whether Emma Warrington was pregnant when she married Laing is discussed repeatedly. I found this very uninteresting. The accusation which appears to have been false that Clapperton was a homosexual, a capital offence in the British Navy had relevance to the conflicted relationships with his fellow travelers on his first journey but again not very interesting.

Rene Caille a Frenchman was the first European to get to Timbuktu and return alive. He won the 10,000-franc prize offered by the French Geographical Society, for the first expedition to return from Timbuktu. Many felt that the fact he made his expedition disguised as an Arab undermined his claim to have been the first European to return alive. But this prize was not the motivation for Laing or Clapperton so hardly seemed relevant The race between Clapperton and Laing was personal and in many ways irrational. The Niger drained into the Atlantic obscured by the many small channels of this delta. Dr Mungo Parks must have known this at the time of his death 500 miles from its exit and the local Africans also knew the truth. They just thought it was not in their interest to let the Europeans know.

In the Afterwards and Acknowledgement to this book Kryza states he was inspired to write his book by the Pulitzer Prize winning book by Sanche de Granmont about the Niger river entitled The Strong Brown God. Although Kryza’s book was worth reading, I am wondering if it would have been better to read the earlier work. I will let you know if I find and read it.

[Crash · Rating 3 out of 5]

In some ways this is a brilliant book, in others it felt disappointing. Kryza's chops as a historian are more than sufficient. His descriptions of the people and places of 19th century Africa carry me there. I can find no fault in his prose or his writing. But when he writes the close of Lang's adventure, where the historical record is difficult to be certain about, Kryza does not stay with the explorer. Instead he relays knowledge of the events as they gradually surfaced to Lang's Wife and to his Father-in-Law. I wish Kryza had, instead, kept the narrative with Lang to the end, even though that would mean invention of further detail.

This is a historical novel, and at the conclusion of the book, where I wanted it to be most like a novel, it because most like a history instead.I do want that story, the long silence, the controversy over the papers, in the story.

Consider another historical novel I just recently read, Devil in the White City; the author explains in a footnote how he invented the personal, dramatic detail of a character's death. Surely any historian reading this would forgive Kryza's invention of the detail so the central figure in this tragedy would not die offstage?

The book, taken as a whole, is well written and well researched. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys distant places or unknown histories.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book for the armchair explorer, like myself. The narrative of this book takes place in the early 1820's when European explorers were seeking to find out the nature and extent of various rivers, mountains, and other geographical features of the planet. In this case the British government was seeking to know the course and terminus of the Niger River in West Africa. The explorers highlighted in this book walk across the Sahara desert to find Timbuktu and hopefully link up with the Niger River on the way. In the course of their various ramblings they stumble on to Lake Chad, find that 80% of the Sahara desert is actually rocky plains as barren as the surface of Mars, and eventually find the fabled city of Timbuktu. So, gentle reader, if you like a well written history of far away places in former times, this may be the book for you.

[Loraine · Rating 3 out of 5]

One third of this book is a 4 star read, the middle part. The start of it is kind of disconnected, going every which way, but although not a pleasure to read, it became the background I needed to develop the sense of this exotic time and place. Once into the race between these amazing explorers it was hard to put down. This is North Africa, the Sahara, early 19th century, before colonization, where slaving still exists, where the locals are..... I just can't find the words. But that's the best part, experiencing this place at that time and the people who lived it. Jaw-dropping maybe would describe it best. Why would a sane person venture into that? But then, exploration means not knowing what is waiting for you.
The last bit is tedious but, I admit, quite necessary. Just too long for what it was worth.
All together a very satisfying read. Worth the effort and very memorable.

[Temple Dog · Rating 4 out of 5]

Praise for Frank Kryza for his suspenseful, intriguing and historically enlightening book, The Race for Timbuktu.

Kryza weaves a narrative that could easily have become overly didactic, witheringly dry; but to his credit it is engaging and frankly quite fun.

Kryza takes the rivalry between Laing and Clapperton and their arduous race to be the first Europeans to reach Timbuktu to quixotic heights. You never know who to root for, but ultimately, you want one of them to win.

I was enthralled by his prose. He lyrically conveys the story without being excessively flowery, but adds a patina that visually enhances the literary experience for the reader.

I highly recommend this book.


TD.

[Julian Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slice of history about the search for a fabled city to match El Dorado, or even Atlantis – except that this one really exists.

An amazing tale of adventure, exploration, shattered dreams and meddling politicians blend together to create a fabulously untold story from the great age of gentleman explorers and a time when less was known about inland Africa than the moon.

The author paints vivid portraits of the characters, social etiquette and the political environment and sets these against the hardships experienced by the explorers themselves and their driving passions.

He opens up a forgotten slice of history and an explorer who deserves more in the history books.

A fascinating and engaging read.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Timbuktu, the mysterious "lost city" (if a city with 12,00 inhabitants can be lost). Reported to have streets paved with gold and with buildings studded with gems. How could explorers resist looking for it. And that is exactly what Alexander Laing and Hugh Clapperton did. They wanted to be the first European to see the city and return, but like many before them they did not make it back. The book is the story of them and others attempting to find Timbuktu. Stories of adventure, endurance, deprivation, with lots of political and religious turmoil to spice things up. There is even a classic love story. Marvellous book, well researched, tons of interesting information.

[Carlos · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have given this boo one more star but i was not happy when i realized that this book is not about timbuktu, it mentions it all through the book but never gives you any information about it, therefore i feel the title is a little misleading, the book is about the race between french and english explorers to see who can get to the ancient city first, we also get a glimpse at the geopolitical relationships between both colonial powers and the african powers as represented by both explorers and the interactions they have go through on their way there. If you love a book about exploring ancient cities...this book is for you, if you like books about ancient cities....not so much...

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting look at the early age of European colonization of Africa, specifically the search for Timbuktu which at the time held the same level of notoriety as El Dorado. While the base story is quite interesting, I felt the book took too many diversions with side stories making some chapters a little slow.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you did not know the terror of Africa for early European explorers, after this book, you will...you will. In all seriousness, what these men accomplished, the horrors they had seen, and their disdain for slavery was an incredible read. In part because of their letters, the common man in Europe became more aware of the horrors of the slave trade.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book. Well-balanced, fast moving narrative.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

okay. initially a good story. end is rambling!

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well researched. An excellent history of that period. It gives a good insite into the politics of the day and the general state of knowledge of Africa. It is worth reading.

[Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives a good feel for the place, people and the dawning of imperialism in Africa. The stories of the incredibly dangerous travel in northeastern Africa are richly detailed.

[Eric Mathis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting history, really made me appreciate the explorers of the era but not enough to hold my interest to the end.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty decent book. There are lot of insights here into the world of the nineteenth century Sahara shortly before the era of European colonization. The casual reader may be surprised to learn (as were the European explorers discussed in this book) how knowledgeable the local and indigenous people were of both their own continent and the wider world. While both the British and the French made much of "discovering" Timbuktu, it's location was obviously well known to locals. One would think they could have simply asked someone to point it out on a map, but as Kryza shows in a roundabout way, rulers of a lot of the nearby cities and kingdoms of Northern and Western Africa were wary of European involvement--and with good reason, as history has shown.

I would say this is a good orientation for Saharan Africa, but it does get a little bit tedious at times, with a litany of sailors, surgeons, and minor functionaries all trying to get their name into history books and then dying of dysentery; this is not to mention the comical intrigue at the end surrounding Laing's mysterious journals. A ruthless editor could probably have turned this into a genuinely exciting National Geographic feature.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m a sucker for tales of British derring-do, especially those in which feature gentleman explorers setting off into the ghastly blanks of continents heretofore unknown and unrecorded by western man. And Frank Kryza’s “Race for Timbuktu” is just such a story, largely focusing on rival adventurers (Hugh Clapperton and Alexander Laing) who are both keen to plant their proverbial flag in Africa’s “El Dorado” (the aforementioned Timbuktu). To do so, they chart courses over the some of the most hostile and rugged terrain on the planet, including a grueling, moonscape slog through the Sahara. Murderous Touareg tribesmen? Check. Parasitic, diarrheal diseases? Check? Extreme deprivation? Also check. Murderous machinations by French rivals? Of course.

Kryza’s is a bang up tale and makes for a great read, not to mention a poignant and well researched tribute to those swashbuckling giants of yesteryear (who — for the most part — are as forgotten and tumbledown as the mud-hutted town they so desperately sought).

[Maureen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is about Europeans in the early 19th century trying to get to the storied city of Timbuktu as well as trace the course of the Niger River. This opening of previously unknown territory would lead to the Scramble for Africa.
At first I was turned off by how these European men were being glorified for traveling where Arab travelers went all the time. But the author did well to explain the significance of their maps and journals in setting up the infiltration of Western Africa for global politics.
It was also striking to learn about the hardships of crossing the Sahara. Besides the lack of water and extreme heat, there were bandits. Didn't make me want to rush out and book a trip to Mali.
The book was rather a slow read.